


No Words, Just Meows

by Arithra



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Animal Transformation, Cat!Felix, Curses, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, of the Felix variety
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-26
Updated: 2020-08-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:01:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26123908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arithra/pseuds/Arithra
Summary: Getting hit by a spell should not turn you into a cat, but that's what happened to Felix. It would have been bearable if only they hadn't left him with the boar.
Relationships: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/Felix Hugo Fraldarius
Comments: 14
Kudos: 120





	No Words, Just Meows

**Author's Note:**

> This was my contribution to the cat!Felix Zine  [ Claws + Paws ](https://twitter.com/felixzine/status/1292222874879746049) ! You should check it out for more cute cat/catboy Felix content… and for more Dimilix.

Felix had not seen the spell coming. One moment he was minding his own business, walking back from the bath towards the dormitory, and the next there were high pitched screams, and something slammed into him.

A something that made his whole body tingle, and sent a short, but terrible pain through him for a moment.

He hit the ground hard, dropping all of his stuff around him.

The screams cut off, turned into words.

Felix ached all over.

“Oh no!” A girl’s voice, no, Annette’s voice. “It wasn’t a ghost!”

“Well, of course!” Another female voice, this one flustered, and less familiar, “I told you ghosts did not exist, but you insisted otherwise!”

It was the Golden Deer girl. The girl with the white hair and the unhealthy attachment to sweets; Lysithea.

“Well-” Annette cleared her throat, and Felix tried to turn to his side but failed, his limbs felt wrong. Shorter, still, unwieldy. Not like his. He swallowed. “If it wasn’t a ghost what did we hit?” Annette continued.

Lysithea gasped, “Oh no. I hope they are alright.”

Felix did not feel alright. He groaned, half in pain, half in discomfort, but the sound got stuck oddly in his throat.

Something twitched against his leg.

There were hurried footsteps in his direction.

“What’s with all the stuff?” Lysithea asked, “Did they run off?”

“Oh no! Do you think we send them somewhere else? Like warp magic?”

Lysithea’s pause was thoughtful.

Felix had enough.

“What the hell was that?” Felix snarled. Or, at least that was what he had planned on throwing in their face, instead, it came out as a strange yowling hiss.

It also drew the attention of the two girls to him.

“Oh!” Annette moved closer, and her face appeared in Felix’s line of sight. He scowled at her, expecting one of her usual over the top responses, but she said, “A cat?”

What?

\--

Whatever it was that Lysithea and Annette had hit him with - and under strict questioning form both professor Manuela and Hanneman it was revealed that they didn’t even know what spells they had used - it could not be undone as quickly as it had been done to him.

More importantly, it seemed like while they had figured out that they had hit a human, and turned them into a cat, they did not yet know that it was him. And while they looked at him whenever they made a noise, they acted like he was a cat in truth. Felix wasn’t and he was getting sick of the treatment.

Eventually, there was a knock on the door, stopping the mages' speculations, and the boar and Ingrid stepped inside. “Professor Manuela, please excuse the interruption, we were-”

On the boar’s face was his usual polite smile, but it faltered when he took in the sight of all the people assembled in the infirmary.

“Is this a bad time?” The boar sounded princely and charming and so terribly fake that Felix’s fur bristled, and his new tail twitched back and forth behind him in agitation.

Professor Manuela sighted theatrically and pushed Professor Hanneman aside to make her way over to the two newcomers. “I have a few moments. This is not time-sensitive.”

Felix would like to disagree, he was worried about his sword, which Annette and Lysithea had left behind.

The boar’s eyes flickered across the assembled people and blinked in surprise when it landed on Felix. Felix turned his face away with a sniff, the ears on top of his head flicked. For once the boar could take a hint, he got on with whatever had brought him here. Felix hoped it wouldn't take long, he wished to be turned back into his own body as soon as possible.

“We were wondering if someone brought in Felix.” The boar told Professor Manuela, Felix looked back at him again in surprise. He noted that the boar looked worried, a furrow between his brows. “We found his belongings strewn on the ground,” He shifted and held up Felix’s Zoltan, Felix’s tail twitched. “Unless something happened he would not leave it behind.”

Ingrid nodded in agreement. She was cradling most of his clothes, and Felix wished she was carrying his sword. She could be trusted to take care of his stuff - unless it was edible.

Professor Manuela shook her head. “No, there were no big incidents today, and Felix has a way of making himself heard.”

Felix sniffed, disliking the implication. He wished she was close so he could have taken a swipe at her hands.

At her words, the boar’s hands tightened on his sword, and in his mind’s eye could already see his Zoltan bend and twist. Unusable. He yowled, drawing the attention of everyone in the room.

The boar’s grip slackened and he turned to Felix. Then he looked down at the sword almost sheepish. Behind him, Ingrid sighed, “Alright, then we’ll ask around.”

Professor Manuela’s brow furrowed. “Be careful, the Death Knight might no longer be in the monastery, but..”

Suddenly, all of them were tense. Felix flicked his tail, eyes intently on his sword. The boar was still holding it, and his grip had tightened again.

“Watch the sword, boar!” But it came out as a plaintive meow. His anger did not get across. Against his will, his tail twitched in agitation and his fur puffed up. They all turned to stare at him, but the boar was still clutching his sword.

He yowled again and considered jumping from the examination table.

“Wait,” Lysithea said, her gaze flickering back and forth between Felix and the clothes in Ingrid’s arms, and the sword. “Where did you find them?”

Ingrid and the boar shared a look. “Close to the dormitory. They were just strewn around.” Ingrid answered.

Annette laughed sheepishly. “So… close to the staircase?”

She got nods in return. Annette squeaked and gazed down at Felix again. He gave her an unimpressed look, but his tail switched back in force in agitation behind him.

“Felix,” Annette said this time addressing him properly, “I’m so sorry!”

Lysithea stepped closer and studied him. “I supposed at least you are a cute cat.” she sounded just a bit amused when she reached for him. Felix took a swipe at her hand, causing her to step back and give him a pouty look. Felix wasn’t moved.

“So… Felix is the cat?” The boar sounded incredulous, and his blue eyes flickered back and forth between Felix and the professors. He was no longer trying to break Felix’s sword though, so it was an improvement.

Professor Manuela chuckled even as she stepped closer to Felix again, but there was tension around her eyes that set him on edge. “It is likely,” She reached for Felix, but he moved back. Manuela stopped, and turned away from him, “Hanneman, can you test for the presence of a crest?”

The other professor seemed intrigued, he bustled from the room, forcing Ingrid and the boar to move aside, and came back a moment later with some equipment that he spread around Felix, who watched it suspiciously. Then Hanneman muttered something under his breath and magic sparked at his fingers. Felix braced himself and felt his fur stand up, but there was no pain, only a vague tingling. In the next moment, the crest of Fraldarius glowed very brightly in the air above them.

Professor Hanneman’s breath caught, “A mayor crest?” he mumbled, clearly surprised, but thankfully, the rest of them focused on the more important thing.

“It is Felix,” Annette said, and she sounded sad and worried.

Lysithea hummed, “But why a cat?”

Manuela chuckled, the tension hadn’t disappeared from her stance, but the humor was real. “You can’t control what kind of animal someone is turned into with these kinds of spells, it draws from personality traits and characteristics.”

“That makes sense,” Ingrid chimed in, sounding far too amused, even as her fingers gently scratched his head, “Felix is very much like a cat, and he used to be a cute cuddly kitten.”

She chuckled, and Felix froze, jerking away from the touch.

Annette and Lysithea giggled, and then full out laughed when Felix took a swipe and Ingrid’s hand. The teachers seemed amused as well, but the boar, still clutching Felix’s sword like a security blanket - seemed perturbed.

“How aware is he?” the boar asked, sounding troubled and the other people fell silent. All eyes turned to Felix who simply blinked back at them. What was it that they expected him to do? Play charade? His situation was bad enough.

“Probably not very,” Professor Manuela admitted quietly. “He might have retained some forms of attachment or familiarity, but there is a reason that human to animal transformations aren’t something that is done. The difference between a human and an animal brain is great, and attempts never turned out well for any participants.”

Her words sobered everyone. From where he sat on the pillow, Felix saw Lysithea and Annette pale and exchanged a guilty glance.

Manuela spoke up again, “Since you did not use a proper spell it is not properly settled, like the old curses are,” Annette and Lysithea perked up, “So it should wear off in the next couple of days, maybe even tomorrow. I will have to observe the change of the magical traces… I can’t say anything about possible lingering effects, however.” A pause and the look on her face was severe, “We can only pray to the goddess.”

At this point, Felix wanted to assure them that he was very much aware, but when he walked towards Annette - the closest to him now that he had taken a swipe at Ingrid - she looked at him with teary eyes. “It’s sweet of you to want to cheer me up, Felix.”

She bit her lip.

Manuela sighted, “There is a reason those kinds of spells are restricted.” She looked like she wanted to continue, but shook her head instead, seeming to rethink her words, “There will be consequences for you, I believe the severity of them will depend on the outcome of this, but that will be up to Lady Rhea.. and Duke Fraldarius to decide,” Annette and Lysithea paled further. Felix chanced a glance at the boar, but he did not rush to assure them, instead his face was unreadable and he was looking at Felix, “In the best case,” Manuela said a bit more softly, “He might simply have no memories of this once he returns to his own body.”

Felix did not want to lose his memories.

Manuela continued her voice stern, “I will inform the archbishop and the duke, but this is not something you can spread around. His state makes him vulnerable, so he needs supervision. To keep this under wraps, it will have to be one of you.”

All of them nodded. The boar was mistreating his sword again. Felix switched his tail in irritation, jumped down the table, and walked over to him. All eyes followed him. The boar’s grip on his precious Zoltan got even tighter.

Felix batted at his boar’s leg, but it did nothing. Frustrated, he did it again. He could feel his crest pulse beneath his skin, but that would be taking it a bit too far. The boar shifted and then knelt. “What is it?” He asked, but his voice sounded strange.

Felix looked at his hand, and prepared himself, (to his horror, he felt his butt wiggle back and forth), and jumped, aiming for the boar’s hands. He didn’t reach them. Instead, the sword of Zoltan hit the ground with a clatter and the boar’s hands closed around him (carefully), but the cold metal of the gauntlets was uncomfortable even with his fur.

Felix meowed in outrage and wriggled as best as he could, but the boar held him firm, shifting him until he was pressed against his chest. Felix clawed at the fabric, but it was too thick for him to make an impact.

“I think his highness should watch out for him.” Ingrid eyes flickering between them. “You did say feelings carried over, and Felix had always cared deeply for his highness.”

Felix yowled in outrage, and the boar sputtered, “Ingrid, I don’t think-”

\--

No one cared what he thought. (Or the boar for that matter.) They came up with arguments that made the boar fold and give in. It was Manuela who gave the deciding argument: Felix could have lasting damage if he changed back and was… mentally not present, Prince Dimitri would be able to handle him physically.

The boar’s face had given nothing away but cradled against his chest, Felix had been able to feel him tremble.

\--

Ingrid offered to bring them (or rather the boar) something to eat to his room. It was a good choice. Felix did not want to imagine having to accompany the boar to dinner in the dining hall. It had been bad enough to have been carried through the monastery cradled snugly against the boar's broad chest, forced to listen to the steady beating for his heart.

It had been so loud, Felix had been startled. But once other people had been around them, it had been grounding. Felix hadn’t noticed it in the infirmary, but his senses were a lot sharper now. The dining hall was loud even to his human ears, he did not want to know how overwhelming it would have been like this.

The boar set him down on his bed after he reached his room. Everything smelled like him. It was strange (familiar). Felix stumbled a little on the uneven ground of the bed, but he regained his balance quickly. The boar stepped back from the bed and Felix watched him suspiciously.

For once, he would make out genuine emotions on his face. The furrow between his brows, the slight grimace on his face, the way he chewed on his lips. (Felix had thought he had grown out of the last one.)

The boar sat down at his table and simply looked at Felix. Felix didn’t like it, he marched around on the bed and eventually decided to settle behind the pillow, before returning his attention to the boar.

He was surprised by the bittersweet smile on the other’s face, and more so when the boar actually spoke. “I hope this turns out all right… Felix… I… I don’t want to imagine…” He trailed off with a grimace and let his face sink into his hands.

Felix's tail twitched back and forth, and for one moment he considered going over to the boar. Thankfully, that moment of weakness was interrupted by a knock on the door.

It was Ingrid who brought them their meal. Thankfully, she had brought something for Felix as well. And luckily - for the boar - he simply set it on the floor for Felix to eat. Felix did, not paying the boar any attention, even if he could feel his gaze on him. It was strange to simply shove his face into the plate and eat, and Felix decided then and there that when - and it was a when, not an if - he was back in his own body, he would pretend to remember nothing.

The rest of the evening passed fairly quickly and Felix dozed on the boar’s bed. The spell had made him quite tired and it was easy to simply relax while the boar studied.

Eventually, the boar decided that he had enough and that it was time to go to bed, it was already dark outside. Felix watched as he undid the clasps of his uniform, and could not help but think that the boar really was ridiculous. Most people got out of at least the uniform jacket when they tried to study, but the boar had been sitting there all buttoned up for hours. He had even worn the gauntlets the whole time.

Felix only looked away when the boar was down to his underwear. He heard the footsteps come closer to the bed and then the mattress moved as the boar set down. Felix had to dodge his long limbs as the prince got into bed and shook out the blanket. Felix grumbled, and a chuckle came from further up the bed. Felix turned to look at the boar and found him watching him in turn. He had pillowed his head on his arm and pulled up the blanket.

Behind him, Felix’s tail switched back and forth, as he waited for the boar to settle and go to sleep, so he could find a place to lie down as well. Somewhere, where he would not be in contact with the boar. Felix supposed it would likely be the end of the bed, he was not sleeping on the ground, and he did not wish to curl up in the boar’s clothes.

He startled when something warm landed on his head. Hissing, he jerked away and found the boar watching him sheepishly. His hand hung in the air between them. Felix looked at it, twitched his tail, and moved back. He knew that the boar was always interested in petting the cats in the monastery, but they never let him. (It had been like that when they were children too. )

Felix would not indulge him. Still, something inside of his chest twisted at the way the boar’s face fell. He turned away and marched towards the back of the bed. He turned on the spot for a bit. It did not feel right to just sit down at first, but eventually, he settled, Felix stretched his ha- his claws. When he looked up he found that the boar was still watching him. When he saw that Felix had turned to him he breathed out audibly. The bed shifted slightly and the blankets rustled.

“Good night.” Said the boar he sounded defeated. Felix curled his tail around himself, and if it brushed against the boar’s feet, then that was a coincidence.

\--

Felix had thought it would be better once the boar prince was no longer awake. It had taken a ridiculous amount of time for him to fall asleep to begin with. Several times the boar seemed to have considered just getting up again, but every time he did, he had looked at Felix on the blanket and settled again.

Eventually, he had fallen asleep.

Despite having waited for it, Felix found that seeing the boar sleep was worse than seeing him agitated. He had nightmares. He tossed and turned and whimpered. Felix had thought… he had thought they had stopped. At least after the western rebellion.

Dimitri flinched, pulling viciously at the blanket and destabilizing Felix’s seat. He got onto his feet and watched. Any moment now Dimitri would wake up. He always did. He never stayed in his nightmares long.

Tail and ears twitching, Felix waited for a long moment. Dimitri stiffened, going ramrod straight and not even breathing for a moment before a shudder went through him. Felix could feel it through the mattress.

The only sound in the room was the gasping of the boar’s breath. And as Felix watched, the boar reached for his head and carded his fingers through his hair. His hands shook and his breathing was still unsteady.

Careful not to make a sound, Felix sat down again and curled his tail around himself, only the tip of it twitching.

He hesitated, then he stood up again. Hesitated some more.

He was just standing there, at the bottom of the bed, and listening to the boar’s shaky breathing. It was the way that the other shuddered and all but clawed at his own face that eventually made his decision for him. With sure steps, he moved alongside the boar’s body, until he was almost next to his face. Felix planted his but on the mattress and wrapped his tail around himself.

He meowed and the boar startled; almost throwing him from the bed with the quick movement. Felix gave him a dirty look, but the look on the boar’s face stopped him from making out outrage known. Dimitri looked haunted, and it seemed like the sight of Felix only seemed to make it worse. Felix’s ears twitched and he moved closer.

The boar let out a shuddering breath.

“Please, go back to normal,” Dimitri pleaded, “Don’t stay a cat-” his voice broke on the word.

Felix stood frozen. This wasn’t what he had expected. He had assumed that the boar wanted him to change back, nothing else would fit with the image he presented, but this pleading-

“Felix.” The boar continued, “I don’t want you to be gone, please don’t leave.” If the boar had not closed his eyes at that moment, he would have seen the way Felix’s eyes went wide and the way his fur puffed up dramatically. Maybe he would have figured out that Felix could understand him perfectly fine, but he hadn’t and so… Felix had options.

Very deliberately, Felix stood up again and marched towards the boar. He did not hesitate to clamber over the man’s arm and onto his chest.

Dimitri froze below him and stared at Felix - the cat - with wide eyes, his hands held uselessly at his side. Felix gave him a look and walked across his chest, stupidly, the boar actually stopped breathing. If Felix could have rolled his eyes he would have, instead, he simply settled down and made himself comfortable.

Even though the boar’s chest wasn’t as soft as the mattress, it was still... Nice. Felix spread out and stretched his paws. It was warm, and when the boar started breathing again, the slight up and down movement was surprisingly soothing. It got better still when Dimitri relaxed and the thumping of his heartbeat started to slow down.

A rumbling filled the room, and it took Felix an embarrassingly long moment to realize it was coming from him. He was purring.

As soon as he realized it he stopped. Dimitri chuckled, and Felix tensed. He tensed even further when the boar carefully, and hesitantly reached for him. The boar looked anticipatory, like a child who finally had something he wanted within reach. 

Felix watched the approaching fingers suspiciously, his ears upright and tail swaying slowly. He sure hoped that the boar wasn’t about to do what Felix suspected!

The fingers touched the back of his neck and wriggled. It felt nice. Felix’s stiffened, he was simply too incredulous to pull away. Another finger joined, and the boar breathed out, relaxing underneath Felix.

To Felix's embarrassment the purring started up again, and he could not stop it. Instead, all he could do was stare at the boar’s blue eyes. They looked softer, the lines of his face relaxed. He looked good.

Well, if Felix allowed Dimitri to scratch him, it obviously wasn’t because it felt really nice or made him happy, but obviously because petting cats was very calming. It was something he knew from experience, and since he was currently - regrettably - a cat. He was only making use of his current skill sets. The boar was a surprisingly good scratcher, and the purring came as easy as breathing.

Felix would have been embarrassed, but it felt very nice. Besides, it helped the boar calm down and there was no way Felix would have gotten any sleep if Dimitri had taken up pacing again.

And it was not as if anyone was around to see it. Tomorrow, Felix would simply pretend it hadn’t happened. Eventually, the boar stopped scratching him, it was a bit of a shame, but Felix did not stop purring. Instead, he watched as the boar settled down into his pillows again. He seemed relaxed now. The expression on his face was one of exhaustion, but it was genuine. Felix liked seeing him like this, without the walls, without the mask.

Watching him fall asleep, was a lot like watching Dimitri fall asleep before.

\--

The next morning, he woke up back in his own body. Unfortunately, he was still in the boar’s bed. Somehow wrapped up in his arms and lying on top of his chest. Felix looked down at the boar’s sleeping face. He looked… peaceful. There was no trace of a furrow between his brows. No trace of the strained fake smile he always put on.

It was a good sight.

He looked younger, more like himself. He (still) looked like Dimitri.

If he were still a cat, he would have hissed at that thought, but as it was, Felix simply pursed his lips and pushed it aside. Wishful thinking would get him nowhere. If he was still a cat he could have meowed to wake him up. No one would have known what he had said. It wouldn’t have mattered what it said.

But he was no longer a cat and he had no idea what to say. Instead, he freed himself from the boar’s grip, carefully trying not to wake him up. The boar’s brow furrowed and he mumbled something in his sleep. Felix froze, half in half out of the bed, and waited, but Dimitri fell asleep again.

Breathing out, Felix moved away from the bed. Only when he was standing in the middle of the room, away from the warmth of the boar’s body (he had always been a furnace) did he realize he was naked. He bit back a curse and looked around the room for something to put on. But there was nothing except for the dirty clothes in the hamper, or the boar’s closet. He wasn't going to go through the stuff, so there was only one other solution.

With determined steps, he crossed over to the bed again, grabbed the boar’s blanket, and gave a mighty yank.

The boar startled awake, jerking back against the headboard, and his eyes flickering around the room in search of an attacker. Felix ignored him and wrapped himself in the blanket instead. It was still warm.

Then the boar noticed Felix and blinked sleepily for a moment, all the tension going out of him. He looked good lying against the headboard, hair mussed from sleep. Dimitri smiled when he saw Felix, wrapped up in the Blaiddyd blue blanket. Felix’s heart stuttered, but he had made his choice.

“Boar,” Felix snapped, sounding less angry than he had intended to, “What am I doing here? Like this?”

He flapped the blanket.

Dimitri startled, sputtered, jerked upright. There was suddenly a violent flush on his face, and he fixed his gaze very determinedly on Felix’s face.

“You were hit by a spell,” Dimitri explained what Felix already knew, “It turned you in an animal and they asked me to keep you company.”

Felix nodded, he said nothing, and simply pulled the blanket tighter around himself. The boar’s smile was gaining the fake quality again, and he hated it.

“Professor Manuela will be glad to see you back to yourself so soon.”

The only thing real about the expression was the relief.

Felix looked away, he did not think about the boar’s pleas last night, “Alright,” he snapped, “Then I will go see her now.” He moved towards the door, making sure he was properly wrapped in the blanket, but then stopped remembering something very important. “Who has my sword?”


End file.
